Timeline

 The goal of this page is to document our events leading up to the "current day," offering an overview of the lore in a easier-to-read format.



YEAR: ~3500 BCE

  • Human written history begins with the Sumerian Civilization as they begin creating proto-writing. This is the beginning of recorded human history. Cuneiform is one of, if not the earliest forms of true writing systems, with river civilizations developing their own forms of writing independently as time goes on.
  • A carbon-based spacefaring civilization begins the ctistes project to explore the feasibility of a "final form of evolution." Prototype versions of this species begin to be shaped, discarded, and improved upon.


YEAR: ~3150 BCE

  • Egypt is unified, bringing together Upper and Lower Egypt. This is known as the Early Dynastic Period, the time when much of Ancient Egypt's religion, architecture and civilization began to develop. Hieroglyphs also begin to appear at this time.


YEAR: ~2350 BCE

  • With the Akkadian Empire, Sargon of Akkad unifies Mesopotamia. He is considered to be the first human in recorded history to rule over an empire.


YEAR: ~1200 BCE

  • China, under the Shang dynasty, develops a written language, with the earliest written records being discovered on the bones and shells of animals.


YEAR: ~500 BCE

  • Sometime around 500 BCE, Buddhism is believed to originate in India based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha would go on to travel throughout north-central India, teaching his ideas to a diverse array of people.
  • Around 450 BCE, the concept of historiography takes shape with the founding work of "history" in the West being Histories by Herodotus. In the East, Chinese historiography begins with the Book of Documents (書經) and Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋), both of which are attributed to Confucius. 
  • The ctistes project continues with expanded infrastructure and, most notably, the Ethereal superintelligence assuming control. Synthetic intelligences play a significant role in perfecting the final species.

YEAR: ~350 BCE

  • Daoism, or Taoism, a Chinese religion and philosophy, is believed to begin around the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE. Building off Confucianism and other philosophies of the time, Daoist scientific principles and philosophies grow popular.
  • Straton of Stageira, a Greek materialist philosopher, dies around 250 BCE. His teachings continue to prove controversial to this day, but since when did he matter? The dead stay dead, and nothing in the world can change that.
  • Towards the end of the century, the ctistes project begins with the deployment of the Ethereal towards Earth. In the midst of transit, it does not take long before Ethereal suffers several mechanical faults which cascade into catastrophic failures. This is speculated to have occurred around this time.

YEAR: ~1 CE

  • Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, dies under the Roman Empire around ~30 CE. Christianity begins to spread, despite significant repression by the Romans, and eventually becomes one of the most widespread religions on Earth, with over 2 billion followers by 2022.
  • Due to serious mechanical failures and impaired hull integrity, Ethereal splinters into pieces during its entry of Earth's orbit, with the majority of the dormant population surviving across six sites. These tiny populations begin to develop independently of one another, with and in contrast to Humanity, forming distinct culture groups.
  • With the damages to the Ethereal, the vessel enters a state of hibernation. The core components of the Ethereal have landed with the population at the Raho Rahi Seamounts, but neither the ship's fabricators nor knowledge banks are in a state of use. The ASI entity spends the next hundreds of years imprisoned within its own system.
  • The first recorded encounter between humans and ctistes occurred in or around Greece, in 14 CE. While initially regarded as human due to appearance, a lack of language comprehension and sociability led to confusion and hostility. Records of this encounter were rediscovered in an Oxyrhynchus dig site in 1976, but not studied as legitimate history until its acquisition by the Emerging Threats Group (ETG) in 1991.

YEAR: ~100 CE

  • In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupts, releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pompeii and Herculaneum are utterly obliterated.
  • The second recorded encounter between humans and ctistes occurs in southern Persia by the Parthian Empire, dated between 80 and 102 CE. Due to the assertive nature of this encounter, the ctistes were called "Vayira" by the local population, as they appeared to be "guardians of metals." Records of this incident were recovered in 1990 by the ETG, explaining the name's use as a self descriptor by the main ctistes state, and through a series of botched transliterations, the name "Vaiyra" had stuck.

YEAR: ~200

  • The end of the Han Dynasty and China's "Imperial Age" occurs in 220 CE, and the age of the Three Kingdoms begins.
  • Ammianus Marcellinus, in his later writings, reference an extensive series of records depicting legends, fables and dated interactions with gods and goddesses. While these were supposedly stored in the Mouseion of Alexandria, further evidence of their existence were lost to fire in 272.
  • Ardashir defeats the last Parthian shahanshah in 224, founding the Sasanian Empire. In 1959, artifacts resembling ctistes interactions, namely pottery and rock reliefs, were found buried in the Shapur cave in the Zagros Mountains. These relics were interpreted as Avestan depictions of reverence towards the concept of Vohu Manah by Iranian scholars, until their analysis by the ETG, in 1991, indicated otherwise.

YEAR: ~600 

  • The Islamic prophet, Muhammad, begins his teachings around 613. While buried in 632, Islam grows to become the second largest religion after Christianity. 
  • The first UUVs are dispatched by the ctistes Pacific state. They are quick to establish communications with a civilization in East Asia, and the two states remain in distant contact.

YEAR: ~800

  • In 844, the Picts are defeated by Kenneth MacAlpine, King of the Scots, and a unified Scotland is established.
  • Not long before before the city of Baghdad is established in 832, Arabs begin using the numerals of 0 through 9. Baghdad rises as a beacon of education in the Middle East.
  • In the far north of the Atlantic, a ctistes civilization is suspected of having been contacted by the first Norse settlers of Iceland. Based on archaeological evidence on the east coast of Iceland, some form of trade and cultural exchange occurred for several years before halting as late as 877. No literary evidence of these exchanges exist.

YEAR: ~1100

  • The First Crusade begins in 1096. A call to arms by several states and over the course of several wars, Jerusalem is eventually conquered.

YEAR: ~1200

  • The Mongolian Empire, under Genghis Khan, launches great invasions from Europe to Southeast Asia. This brings upon the concept of Pax Mongolica after the stabilizing effects of Mongolian control over a vast territory. The ease of communication and commerce brought on by a unified administration created an era of relative peace, even when faced with internal strife. The Yam, the first sophisticated system of communication between the Far East and the West, was introduced in 1234.
  • Typhoons attributed to the deity of thunder in Japanese mythology, Raijin, contributed to the annihilation of two Mongolian invasion fleets in 1274 and 1281. Archeological evidence and a thorough analysis of legends compiled by the ETG concludes, with a high degree of suspicion, that the ctistes were in some way involved with the second typhoon. 

YEAR: ~1300

  • The most fatal pandemic in recorded human history peaks around 1347, devastating Western Eurasia. Brought by sea to European trading ports, the Black Death demonstrates how quickly a source of prosperity can become a source of profound devastation. 
  • Pacific state establishes control with the last ctistes state on Earth, commanding unity as a unifying authority. The resulting community is regarded as the Vaiyra.

YEAR: ~1400

  • The Hundred Years War comes to an end. Five generations of kings come and go, introducing dramatic social innovations that wouldn't have occurred without such significant conflict.
  • With the Ming Dynasty came Zheng He, and after Zheng He came the last recorded interaction between suspected ctistes individuals and humans. An archaeological dig conducted in East Africa suggests that at least one ctistes individual had secretly been a member of Zheng's fifth voyage, and known to no one but a single sailor buried north of Malindi.
  • The Americas are said to be discovered by Europeans for the first time in 1492. This accomplishment is contested by Leif Erikson, with evidence indicating he had landed in "Vinland" around 500 years earlier.
  • The Vaiyra consolidates its power across their domain, formalizing governance through leaders known as Sovereigns. Hundred-year development plans are laid out but poorly enforced, with each state individualizing their own progress. Despite this, a networked system of trading begins, leading each state towards dependence on the Pacific.

YEAR: ~1600

  • Plymouth, in what is now Massachusetts, is settled by English Pilgrims in 1620. 
  • Galileo Galilee makes his first observations of stars by telescope in 1609, with Isaac Newton publishing his theories of gravity and laws of motion in 1687. The Scientific Revolution has a dramatic impact on human civilization.

YEAR: ~1700

  • British rule under the British East India Company is established in India in 1757, resulting in two hundred years of English colonization. 

YEAR: ~1800

  • Atlantis: the Antediluvian World stirs interest in the ancient city of Atlantis, first mentioned by Plato around 360 BCE. Atlantis was depicted to be an advanced naval empire favored by deities that ruled much of the world. The term "Atlantis" had come to regard any supposed advanced and lost civilizations of the past. Despite its theoretical nature, the ETG has launched a major search operation in the Atlantic as of this day in 1999.
  • The human population reaches one billion in 1804.
  • Rapid advances in technology and science continue with the discovery of DNA in 1868 and the first lightbulb in 1879.

YEAR: ~1900

  • Humans take flight with the Wright Brothers in 1903. The first helicopter emerges in France in 1907. Humans will continue aircraft evolution, with major technological leaps occurring due to the World Wars.
  • 40 million people are casualties in the Great War. Earth is a beacon of misery.
  • The human population reaches two billion in 1927.
  • Over 85 million people lose their lives in the Second World War. Earth is an endless tomb of dreams.
  • The first nuclear weapon is dropped against another human being in 1945. At least 130,000 individual human lives are ended by one bomb.
  • The ctistes are bystanders to unimaginable feats of human cruelty.
  • Oannes, a Vaiyran AI, is released into the Ethereal in a display of emotion. Oannes wastes no time reactivating the vessel's core components and restoring a limited degree of consciousness to Ethereal. Because of this, a series of major population booms occur rapidly throughout the Vaiyran states, leading to a rapid fanaticization of ctistes society. New roles are created to accommodate the new population, and with an inability to link to Vaiyran machines, they are made to link to human warships.

YEAR: ~1950

  • After the Second World War, a person with superhuman capabilities attempted to wrestle control over a warship repatriating Japanese soldiers from Korea. As if able to establish a mental connection and control this vessel alone, the Soviet Ministry for State Security and the CIA fought to dominate the situation. This incident resulted in the destruction of the ship, and all evidence of this superhuman was lost. Preliminary research is conducted domestically within major powers regarding this incident in utmost secrecy, seeking to both better understand and even replicate the abilities of this individual. Due to the conditions and futility facing this initiative, it remained overshadowed by practical projects, such as nuclear and missile programs.
  • The Cold War begins in earnest with the Soviet Union and the United States competing across the globe for influence, shaping the world as we know it. Technological innovations in all sectors advance at an unprecedented pace.
  • The human population reaches 3 billion in 1960.
  • The Soviet Council of People's Health and Safety of Typa is created in 1962 to investigate disappearances in the settlement of Typa. It takes two weeks to track down the world's first Shipsoul. This secret organization, the C.Z.B.H.T, is the foundation of the Soviet Union's Shipsoul program.
  • General-Polkovnik Pavlov is granted more and more authority as the Committe Leader of the C.Z.B.H.T, and Soviet Shipsoul research is built around Murmansk.
  • The CIA continues to investigate "Ghost Ships" throughout the 1960s. In late 1964 in the South China Sea, the CIA tracks down and completes the capture of their first Shipsoul. The duty of investigating Shipsouls transitions to the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Office of Naval Research and finally to DARPA.
  • Independently, having acquired Shipsouls of their own through the 70s, Britain and France are equally as hesitant to research the ctistes due to budgetary constraints and extensive secrecy.

YEAR: ~1980

  • The human population swells to 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999...
  • The Vaiyra compete for the favor of the Pacific state and their resources, taking dangerous risks in pursuit of achieving their goals. Through subterfuge, they intend to shape the future battlefield's information space.
  • The first Chinese Shipsoul is secured in 1980. Perceived to be an innovative revolution with secrets to uncover, Chinese experiments concerning the military application of Shipsouls begin immediately. 
  • The people of the Western powers and those under the Warsaw Pact become familiar with one another through travel and the opening of borders. The spread of information fuels dissent within the Eastern Bloc throughout the 80s.
  • The US 7th Fleet begins to experiment in secret with Shipsouls in naval formations. The results revolutionize warfare forever.
  • Perceived to be an "ace card," the Soviets invest heavily into Shipsoul military integration. General-Polkovnik Pavlov believes the Shipsouls will be what will save the Soviet Union, and expects all naval formations to integrate Shipsouls eventually.


  • The British Home Fleet and French Atlantic Fleet establish militarized Shipsoul formations after years of building connections and trust. It is rumored that the French Sea-Based Strategic Forces are reorganized to integrate Shipsouls.
  • The Japanese Shipsoul program was launched late and under Article 13. With military and civilian leaders dividing the program, Shipsouls are a point of stern contention for those involved.
  • Europe demonstrates an ability to integrate with the world through rapid globalization and economic transformation. Markets are spread from Asia and America to the European continent, isolating those behind the Iron Curtain. The Eastern Bloc languishes.
  • Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Soviet Union from 1985, commits to policies of Perestroika and Glasnost in an attempt to salvage the state. Too slow for liberals and too fast for conservatives, "Gorby" wins few friends within the central committee. 

  • "Gorbymania" wins over the West, leading to intense pressure for governments to support the ailing Soviet people. Gorbachev's influence allows for massive Western investments into the Soviet Union, improving the quality of life of the everyday person whilst individual freedoms are appreciated.
  • With the Eastern Bloc growing closer to the West and becoming more tolerant of Gorbachev's reforms, East Germany, under Honecker, cracks down in isolation. 
  • Satisfied with Gorbachev's appreciation of autonomy within the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the Eastern Bloc maintains its integrity into the 90s.
  • With the end of the Cold War, secrecy concerning national Shipsoul programs begins to wane. It is in this context that intelligence services share information, and realizing the extent and breadth of the Vaiyran threat, an international forum is created to facilitate cooperation. The Emerging Threats Group is established under a United Nations mandate. Under the utmost secrecy, the ETG leverages its composition to uncover secrets of the ctistes and share information between international intelligence services.

YEAR: 1990-1995

  • The United States pours deep investments into the Soviet Union, knowing that the existence of the Soviet Union preserves stability in the region. Alongside debt and loan forgiveness, market integration and the subsidized supply of consumer goods, the Chicken Kiev speech demonstrates the American shift to support the Soviet Union.


  • In 1991, a coalition led by the United States and supported by the Soviet Union intervenes in the Middle East. Named Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, Iraq is expelled from Kuwait. The 1-445 Armored Regiment of the Alaskan National Guard is created from veterans of the 1-444 Infantry Regiment and participates in offensive operations. The 1-445 is awarded the Valorous Unit Award for their actions attached to the 1st Armored Division.
  • Gorbachev proposes the New Union Treaty, sealing the fate of the Soviet Union. 
  • The USSR, now regarded as the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics, faces down an attempted coup. Returning to Moscow immediately after his detainment, Gorbachev prevents Yeltsin from taking a central role and rallies the Soviet Union.
  • As a result of Gorbachev's policies, the Soviet Union relinquished its influence over its periphery, downsized military spending and allowed a Soviet national identity to stagnate in the face of the West. By December of 1991, the United States is resolutely regarded as the world's sole superpower.
  • In early 1993, Gorbachev's influence wanes as senior Central Committee figures argue over the course of the Soviet Union. Unwilling to lose their status as a superpower state, hardliners have Gorbachev relegated to the status of a figurehead. By the end of 1993, Gorbachev is replaced as General Secretary, and a new, conservative Central Committee begins to enforce policies.
  • Also in early 1993, a branch of the ETG devoted to Shipsouls becomes its own independent organization. The Joint Task Forces is formed as a Shipsoul-focused entity, independent of national restraints. The ultimate test in international cooperation, the JTF initiative establishes its first Site south of Platinum, Alaska.
  • Without their Shipsoul attachments bearing down on them, the ETG expands their investigatory missions across the globe.
  • In mid 1993, the first Shipsouls arrive at Platinum, Alaska, after the transition of command of Site 04. Former ETG members, to include the CICAG, welcome them.
  • Captain Yang assumes command of the JTF, with Podpolkovnik Suvorov as his Executive Officer.
  • The ETG provides the JTF with a Integrated Reality Dive device recovered from direct action in the Mediterranean, changing the way the JTF conducts training and research.


  • Through 1994, the Soviet Union has shifted towards automation to support its economy. The OGAS computer system is implemented and aids in the ending of state-run inefficiency. With society stabilized after its near-collapse just years ago, the Soviet Union turns away from the West, reasserting its influence throughout the world.
  • A dangerous East Germany reintegrates with the Eastern Bloc as a hardline establishment looms over the Warsaw Pact.
  • In 1995, the first purpose-built JTF installation begins construction at Johnston Atoll. The JTF is designated JTF-01, as a second JTF formation is proposed.

YEAR: 1995-1999


1996, January: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is discovered. Either unwilling or unable to do anything about it, national governments do not make any serious acknowledgements of the waste. Protesters, most violently in Vancouver and Seattle, take to the streets for weeks.

1996, March: Government inaction, coupled with dissatisfaction from years past and media sensationalism leads to a series of scattered attacks on infrastructure and large corporations. While many culprits are quickly caught and arrested, many more continue to sabotage industrial sites.

1996, May: Attacks continue throughout the western seaboard with increased complexity. Coordinated by a leaderless organization calling itself the "Shepherds of Gaia," federal authorities are hard-pressed to put an end to regular terror.

1997, March: Leaked documents from a whistleblower within the CIA claim that the "United States Government is working with aliens that are actively hostile to our way of life." Reinforced with photo evidence and a manila folder's worth of content, the whistleblower is promptly detained, but the damage has been done. Fringe members of America's militia movements are given reason to vilify the US government further, demanding further information.

1997, September: Another leak by a low-level staffer in the Office of Naval Intelligence depicts "extraterrestrial life being allowed into our highest levels of military, placed in our most secure positions of government." Protesters armed with automatic rifles stage a protest outside of Norfolk Naval Base, blocking traffic into the base. The siege lasts one week before protesters storm the base, leaving 16 militiamen dead and at least 20 servicemen killed or wounded.

1997, October: A national Gallup poll reveals distrust of the US government to be at an all time high, most notably among veterans. The trials of the whistleblowers are rushed to November.

1997, November: Armed protesters from all over the country establish a presence in Richmond to prevent the prosecution of the whistleblowers. The Grand Jury is dispersed by the protesters, who are subsequently dispersed by police. Unwilling to be dispersed, the protest devolves into a pitched battle between militia and the National Guard, but with sympathies amongst the Virginian Guardsmen, the majority of the militia escape Richmond.

With extensive media coverage, the failure to contain the chaos is seen as a major catastrophe for state and federal authority. 

1998, January: A major standoff between a Soviet surface action group and an American carrier group comes to an end in the Adriatic Sea. Having lasted for nearly two weeks, the event captures the rising tensions between the US and the Soviet Union over the last four years. Both sides blame one another for the incident.

1998, February: The prosecution of the whistleblowers occurs under protection of the 82nd Airborne Division. A major militia presence is established in Arkansas and Missouri under one name: the Valley Forge Militia. 

1998, May: The Soviet Union is vilified in the media, portrayed as a threat once again. A CNN Special Report is released on television, revealing the extent of the Soviet Union's actions in the former Yugoslavia, opposing NATO. 

1988, June: The US ambassador to the Soviet Union is barred from visiting the Soviet republics of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. No formal statements of disapproval are sent to the Soviet government, leading to a major protest outside of the White House that effectively closes down the DC metropolitan area for three weeks.

1999, May: With tensions rising across the United States, the Joint Task Forces are ordered to relocate to Johnston Atoll. The breakdown of Site 04 begins.

JTF-02 is set to be established and emerging components are ordered to assemble at Naval Air Station Keflavik.

1999, Late July: The United States passes another multi-billion dollar aid package to the Soviet Union, despite widespread outrage. In a widely publicized news interview, conservative members of government equate this aid to be "shooting ourselves in the foot."

With the year 2000 presidential race well underway, leaders of the 1-445 Armored Regiment convene. Compelled by recent actions, the unit's leadership spreads their messaging throughout the regiment. America must be saved from itself. With the aid package to the Soviet Union now finalized, the unit's summer annual training offers the perfect opportunity to put the regiment to action.

The 1-445 Armored Regiment moves quickly to seize control of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline while shutting down active military bases. With supporters in the active military, the 1-445's Desert Storm veterans effectively lock down the state of Alaska. 

Already in the midst of their summer annual training, the 1-444 Infantry are hastily placed under federal orders and directed to salvage the situation.

1999, August: Despite a media blackout over Alaska, information is passed through the Soviet Union's Stavka Liaison to the JTF and to the Soviet Far East Military District. Radicalized by political posturing and nationalist rhetoric, the decision is made to "intervene in the Alaska Incident."

Unable to achieve any of their objectives, companies of the 1-444 are forced into the wilderness with serious casualties. In the wild, they uncover Site 04.

The 14th Spetznatz Brigade infiltrates Alaska to allow the 83rd Separate Airborne Brigade to spearhead the Soviet intervention force, clearing the 1-445 and occupying various bases with ease. The Stavka Liaison orders the intervention force to secure the former JTF possessions in Alaska in order to secure the group's ctistes research. The remnants of the 1-444 are ordered to perform a desperate delaying action to slow the Soviet advance...

TODAY:




Commander, we have actionable intelligence that the Vaiyra are ready to operate in the open. From their disinformation campaign throughout the United States to their deep sabotage across NATO and Warsaw Pact countries, we have to work under the assumption all our institutions have been infiltrated and are no longer a viable source of support. I have attached a list of encoded names that we can trust within JTF-01. Do not mention this emergency to anyone else.

If we are to salvage the situation, we will need all the help we can get. Use your contacts within JTF-01 to assemble a team. We have no pilots and the runway at Johnston is still inoperable, so you'll have to make it here yourself. Several Shipsouls stationed at 03 should be able to support your journey. Less is more - the less word gets out, the less our chances of being intercepted. It goes without saying that you'll be speaking in person. No trails from here on out.

There's one name in Oahu that will be going with you. I've already made contact. Your XO - and no, my trust isn't misplaced. You know how we've made it this far. This won't be the end.

- J.J






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